Findings of a comparative real-world analysis of long-acting somatostatin analogs (SSAs) indicate that lanreotide was associated with lower injection burden, use of rescue medications, and cost.
A comparative real-world study evaluated the use of the 2 long-acting SSAs, lanreotide and octreotide, and their costs in Canada; the results of this analysis were reported at the 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology GI meeting.
This analysis was performed using claims data from the IQVIA Private Drug Plan, Ontario Drug Benefit program and Régie de l’assurance-maladie du Québec. Eligible patients must have had their first prescription dispensed between September 2015 and June 2018. Comparisons (using unpaired t-test or Wilcoxon test) between lanreotide and octreotide were done over a 12-month period from first SSA prescription in terms of injection burden, rescue medication use, and costs.
A total of 908 patients were included in the analysis. Of these, 375 patients were prescribed lanreotide 120 mg and 533 patients received octreotide long-acting release 30 mg. Injection burden for 12 months was significantly lower in patients who received lanreotide treatment compared with octreotide treatment (weighted average, 12.54 vs 13.44 injections/patient; P <.0001). The mean use of rescue medications was also lower in patients receiving lanreotide compared with those treated with octreotide (0.01 vs 0.05 claims/patient/year); this difference reached statistical significance during the first month of treatment (mean difference, 0.19; P <.0001) and at months 5 and 6 (P <.05). In Canada, the mean total annual costs of medication (rescue medication + SSA) were significantly lower for lanreotide compared with octreotide ($27,829.35/patient vs $31,255.49/patient; P <.0001).
Findings from this real-world observational study suggest that treatment with lanreotide was associated with lower injection burden, use of rescue medications, and cost, all of which could inform treatment selection while making clinical decisions.
Source: Cheung WY, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2020;38(4_suppl). Abstract 608.